The official start of the new European competence center for citizen participation and deliberative democracy at the EU’s Joint Research Center was announced at a kick-off event on October 6th this year.
The Joint Research Center (JRC) is the European Commission’s scientific service that employs scientists to carry out research on a wide range of European policy issues in order to provide independent scientific advice and support.
The competence center has the task of supporting EU institutions and facilities in Europe with technical resources and knowledge of various kinds in developing and implementing projects and strategies for participation-oriented democratic processes.
The intended goal is to support political decision-makers in the design of projects and initiatives in questions of greater involvement and consultation of citizens and to make methods and forms known. The approach is already being tested in several pilot projects, the results of which will be recorded by the center.
The new unit will therefore primarily develop and expand offers for public actors and other interest groups. These include, among other things
- an EU knowledge base on participatory and deliberative practices and good examples
- orientation and guidelines for research and policy makers
- promotion of capacity building and training
- development of dedicated public spaces for citizen participation
- developing and experimenting with new methods
- establishment of a community of practice on citizen participation and deliberative democracy.
The competence center will also develop a framework for evaluating different participatory approaches and their transferability in the EU.
The JRC coordinates several competence centers, each of which focuses on the provision of analytical tools, the pooling of specialist knowledge in their respective field and the dissemination of good methods of action.